In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent

(Pharaoh) said: ‘Who, now, is this Lord of you two, Moses?’ He replied: ‘Our Lord is He who gives every thing (that exists) its distinctive nature and form, and further guides them.’

Said (Pharaoh): ‘And what of all the past generations?’ (Moses) answered: ‘Knowledge of that rests with my Lord alone, recorded in a Book. My Lord does not err, and neither does He forget. He it is who has made the Earth your cradle, and has traced on it paths for you to walk on, and who sends down waters from the sky with which We bring forth diverse pairs of plants. Eat, then, and graze your cattle. In all this there are signs for those who are endowed with reason.

(Ta Ha: 20: 49-54)

It was a mission entrusted to Moses and Aaron to address Pharaoh and invite him to believe in God, his Lord, the Creator of the universe and to acknowledge His authority, as we have seen last week. Indeed, they were given detailed instructions on how to address him, speaking to him gently and mildly so that he would not retreat into an attitude of arrogant defiance. Even the warning of doom in the hereafter, should he refuse all warnings and persist in his arrogance, was to be an indirect one. Now we continue our discussion of this passage to find them both at Pharaoh’s palace. The Surah does not mention how they were admitted into his presence, but they got there. For certain, their Lord was with them hearing and seeing what was taking place. But what power, and what authority was at the disposal of Moses and Aaron to enable them to communicate to Pharaoh, great as he might have been, what God, their Lord, commanded them to convey to him? The Surah paints a vivid scene that shows the dialogue between Moses and Pharaoh, starting with this question and answer: “Pharaoh said: Who, now, is this Lord of you two, Moses? He replied: Our Lord is He who gives every thing (that exists its distinctive nature and form, and further guides them.” It is clear that Pharaoh does not wish to acknowledge God’s Lordship, which they had made clear to him when they said that they were ‘the emissaries of your Lord.’ He realizes that Moses was the main advocate of the message being addressed to him. Hence, he puts his question to him: “Who, now, is this Lord of you two, Moses?” In whose name are you addressing me to demand the release of the Israelites?

Moses replies emphasizing God’s attributes of creation, initiation and providing guidance and balance: “Our Lord is He who gives every thing that exists its distinctive nature and form, and further guides them.” Thus it is: our Lord is the one who has given everything its existence in the form and the nature it has. He then guides each and every one to fulfill their respective roles, providing them all with the means for such fulfillment. The Arabic text of this verse uses the conjunctive ‘then’ separating creation of everything and giving it guidance. This conjunctive is rendered in the translation as ‘further’ to indicate the true meaning of the verse. There is no lapse of time between creating a creature and giving it guidance. The conjunctive is used to indicate the difference of ranking between the mere creation of something and giving it the necessary knowledge to fulfill its role. Providing such guidance is higher in rank than leaving creatures to their own devices.

This description of God given by Moses, as quoted in the Qur’an, sums up the highest and most perfect attributes of God the Creator who controls everything in the universe. It is He who gives every creature its form, nature and role. When man casts his eye and contemplates as best as he could this endless universe, he can see the results of what the great power of God makes of every existence, great or small, starting with the minute atom up to the largest creature, spanning life between a one-celled creature to the most sophisticated form of life, i.e. man himself.

The great universe is made up of countless atoms, cells, substances, creatures and living things. Every atom in the universe interacts, every cell has a life, every living being moves, and every creature influences and is influenced by other creatures. But all of them work, individually and collectively, within the boundaries of the laws God has planted in their natures and constitutions, without any conflict, defect, slackening at any moment. Yet every individual creature is, on its own, a complete world: its cells, organs and systems work in accordance with his nature, within the overall law God operates in the universe, in perfect order and perfect complementarity.

Let us leave aside the great universe and look for a moment at each creature on its own. Human knowledge and endeavor will remain limited in its ability to study and understand such a creature. We are talking here of studying the characteristics, role, illnesses and treatment of creatures in our world. We are not speaking about creating these creatures or guiding them to fulfill their respective roles. That is something totally beyond man’s knowledge or ability. Man himself is one of God’s creatures. God has given him existence in the form he has, and assigned to him his role like all other creatures. The One who gives every creature its nature and form and further guides them to perform their roles is God, the only deity in the universe.

Here Pharaoh puts another question: “And what of all the past generations?” All those human generations that had lived and died: where have they gone? Who was their Lord? What happens to them since they died unaware of their Lord Moses was speaking about?

“(Moses) answered: ‘Knowledge of that rests with my Lord alone, recorded in a Book. My Lord does not err, and neither does He forget.” Thus Moses refers all this unknown matter to his Lord whose knowledge is perfect, encompassing every single detail of every little creature, and who never forgets anything. It is He alone who knows about all those generations, their past and future. The realm that lies beyond the reach of human perception belongs totally to God, who alone determines the eventual outcome of mankind and their life.

But Moses continues to draw Pharaoh’s attention to some of the results of God’s action in the universe and how these results affect human life. He chooses results seen close by, well-known in Egypt with its rich soil, abundant water, and plentiful crops and cattle: “He it is who has made the Earth your cradle, and has traced on it paths for you to walk on, and who sends down waters from the sky with which We bring forth diverse pairs of plants. Eat, then, and graze your cattle. In all this there are signs for those who are endowed with reason.”